Sea Lions on the Rocks

California Sea Lion -- Yaquina Bay, Newport, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5, 1/1600s, ISO: 800

What this picture reminds me is just how close some of us live to wildlife.  Shoot, I live close to wildlife.  A pair of peregrine falcons have been nesting about a block from my house for a few years.  They're the fastest living things on the planet.  Can you imagine all that goes on under the water in this harbor?

I should learn how to scuba dive.

What Difference Do Tools Make?

California Sea Lion -- Newport, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, ISO: 2000, f/5, 1/1000s

If you follow this blog you might be thinking to yourself that you've seen this photo before.  You haven't, but you've seen one very similar.  This is one of a series of shots I took of this particular sea lion.  The previous post can be seen here.

Why post such similar photos?  Well, I'm always reluctant to post photos on the road because I don't have my entire arsenal of post-processing software loaded on my laptop.  There's not much of a point.  My personal laptop's monitor isn't very good.  My work laptop has a fantastic retina monitor (it's a Mac) but it's my work laptop so I'm reluctant to use for anything other than a temporary back up for images if it's the only computer I'm traveling with (which is usually the case).  I can't really dive into the post-processing step until I get home, and a photo like this shows pretty clearly why I'd rather wait to post until I've gotten home rather than post on the road.

I've posted the original image below.  The difference between the two is striking.  The original is overexposed.  No problem, DXO OpticsPro 10 can take care of that.  Once that's corrected, it's still a bit drab.  DXO OpticsPro 10 to the rescue again.  Add a little microcontrast and a good cropping and it's ready to go.  Sometimes I need to pull out the big stick and beat the photo around in Photoshop.  On the road all I have is Picasa.  It's good in a pinch but not as powerful as what I have at home.

What's the point?  I dunno.  Post-processing is a huge part of photography.  It's half the fun.  In the old days of film, it was mostly just professionals and students who had access to the types of tools needed to do any sort of post processing.  Now it's available for free on the internet or for a small fee for some products and a larger fee for others.  I don't think I'd have ever gotten into photography if I had to work with film.

California Sea Lion

California Sea Lion -- Newport, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, 1/1000s, f/5, ISO: 2000

The scene at the sea lion docks in Newport was absolute chaos, and yet this particular sea lion seemed to be sleeping through it all.  I don't know how with all the barking, lunging and growling going on.  The life of a local celebrity, I guess.

Sea Lions

California Sea Lion -- Moss Landing, CA
Canon PowerShot SX40 HS

It wasn't all that long ago that sea lions had no presence at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.  One day they just showed up and took over a few docks and they've never left.  They've become yet another San Francisco tourist attraction.  The same thing happened here at Moss Landing, except for the tourist attraction part.  This picture is of a dock near the Highway 1 bridge taken a few years ago.  Today the dock is fenced off so the sea lions can't get on it.  I kind of miss them but they were definitely intimidating to paddle past on a kayak.  This new fencing reminds me of certain "No Loitering" signs I've seen posted in shopping malls to ward off teenagers.  Build a mall and teenagers will come.  Build a dock in a sheltered cove along the Pacific Coast and the sea lions will come.  Better to celebrate than complain in both cases, I'd say.

You can see one of the sea lions has something stuck around her neck.  Unfortunately that's a fairly common sight.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 128, image #0067.

On Being Fabulous

California Sea Lion -- Moss Landing, CA
Canon Power Shot SX40 HS, 1/320s, f/5, ISO: 200

Elkhorn Slough is a fantastic place to spend a day in a kayak.  The water is generally calm and although the tidal currents can be swift in my experience they are manageable.  The slough teems with wildlife, including sea otters, seals and sea lions.

From land, sea lions are loud and kind of funny.  They are a bit more intimidating from a small boat on the water.  They are big animals, with the males often weighing over eight hundred pounds.  Combine that size with their exuberance and you might be able to imagine why they don't seem quite so cute and cuddly from inside a ten foot long plastic boat.

I think of this as their "fabulous" pose.  Flaunt it if you've got it.

Inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 93, image #0072.